President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate one
individual to serve in his administration and his designation of two
individuals to hold positions in his administration. President Bush
today also announced his formal nomination of two individuals to serve
as Judges for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.

The President intends to nominate R. Nicholas Burns to be the United
States Permanent Representative to the Council of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary. He has held the post of Ambassador to Greece since
1997. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, he
served as State Department Spokesman and Acting Assistant Secretary of
State for Public Affairs from 1995 to 1997. From 1990 to 1995 he was a
member of the National Security Council as Director of Soviet (and then
Russian) Affairs under President Bush and as Senior Director for
Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Affairs under President
Clinton. Ambassador Burns has held a variety of positions at
the State Department and abroad since 1982 and has been awarded the
Department's Superior Honor Award three times. Originally
from Massachusetts, he is a graduate of Boston College and received a
Master's degree from John Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies.

The President has designated Frank D. Yturria to be Chairman of the
Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation. He has
served as a Member of this Board since being appointed by former
President Bush in 1990 and then re-appointed by President
Clinton. From 1982 to 1984, former President Reagan
appointed Mr. Yturria to the South Pacific Commission. He
was appointed Collector of Customs for the 23rd Collections District of
Texas by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 and served until
1961. Yturria is a WWII and Korean War veteran, a graduate
of Texas A&M University, and is the owner of Yturria Ranch in
Brownsville, Texas.

The President has designated Patricia Hill Williams to be Vice Chairman
of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American
Foundation. She was appointed to the Board of Directors by
former President Clinton in 1994. Williams was appointed by
President Reagan to his National Advisory Council on Women's
Educational Programs and by President Bush to his Presidential Advisory
Council on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She
is currently the Vice President for external affairs at the State
University of New York at Farmingdale. She is a graduate of
SUNY at Old Westbury, received a Master's from New York Institute of
Technology and from SUNY Stony Brook and an E.D.D. Degree from
California Coast University.

The President has officially nominated Richard F. Cebull to serve as a
District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.

The President has officially nominated Sam Haddon to serve as a
District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.